EAST RUTHERFORD — There is a common denominator with every top organization in the NFL. The New York Jets thought themselves to be one of those top teams.
Aggressive teams tend to find ways to win while passing teams wait for a lucky bounce in each game. It’s a fundamental difference between teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and another like the New York Giants.
For the Jets, they had a chance to announce themselves among the better teams in football Monday night. Their lack of aggression though showed very clearly that this team is more bark than bite when it matters most.
In New York’s 27-6 drubbing to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jets failed as an offense to score a touchdown, while miserably continuing the problems that have plagued them throughout the 2023 season. Poor third-down play, poor offensive line play, and poor quarterback play all were combined to struggle against the 26th-ranked defense in the NFL.
Turning the ball over three different times certainly doesn’t help either.
“Today was not good, obviously,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “We just never gave ourselves a chance. A lot of self-inflicted wounds…You get two turnovers in the first quarter when you move the ball into their territory is never a good thing.”
Monday night’s loss did more than just move the Jets to 4-4 on the season though. It highlighted a very real problem within the organization that has plagued them now for two seasons.
A lack of aggression.
For a team with an aggressive defense and fiery head coach, the Jets are seemingly afraid to make mistakes on the offensive end. They would rather be passive than aggressive. They would rather let the defense dictate what they should run rather than force defenses to guard them how they want. It’s a fundamental difference between some of the better offenses in the sport, and those struggling to get out from under their own feet.
The Jets are one of those teams. They are averaging 14 points this season, are dead last in the league in third-down and red-zone offense, and haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in a drive that started on their side of the field since the Kansas City game over a month ago.
A lack of trust in the quarterback certainly has its merits when looking at Zach Wilson’s full body of work over his first three seasons, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and the rest of the coaching staff appears to treat the offense with kid gloves whenever they begin to move the ball down the field.
It’s led to several drives being killed early due to self-inflicted penalties or turnovers like in Monday’s loss to the Chargers.
“I think we all just kept taking turns,” Wilson explained. “Too many self-inflicted wounds. Just not good enough. I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. Not good enough.”
New York’s problems overall go far beyond the lack of offense from a group led by a backup quarterback though. Truthfully, if a culprit is to be found as a result of the Jets’ uninspiring loss to the Chargers on Monday, it’s those at the very top of the organization for several different reasons.
The biggest, of course, is that same lack of aggression that has plagued the rest of the roster.
When general manager Joe Douglas took over in 2019, he took over a team completely devoid of talent. Since then, he has used strong drafts and some solid free agents to completely turn the talent level in games on its head. The Jets no longer have the weakest team in football.
That being said since acquiring some of the best draft picks in recent Jets history, Douglas and the rest of the front office have seemingly gone back on their laurels in key moments. It;’s a big reason why the Jets are where they are now – on the outside looking in for the AFC Playoffs. Many will defend Douglas and the front office for their work this offseason thanks to bringing in a Hall-of-Fame quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.
Those same people will fail to recognize the very real possibility that the Jets should have protected Rodgers better with more viable plans along the offensive line, and at backup quarterback – a position that has become a must-have in the modern NFL. New York failed to do both and it’s resulted in an offense being led by last year’s failing quarterback Zach Wilson, and an offensive line with more players on IR, than healthy starters.
Douglas’ failings go beyond the miss at backup quarterback or offensive line though. His true failings happened less than a week ago.
At the trade deadline, the Jets had real needs at wide receiver, offensive line, and quarterback. They could’ve looked for average options at each position to help stabilize the groups and better fit the overall scheme. Instead, Douglas and the front office went big game hunting for players like Mike Evans and Davante Adams. Rather than address immediate needs right away, Douglas chose to play the safe game and role with the team currently assembled.
Because of his lack of aggression, the receivers couldn’t get open on Monday, the offensive line gave up plenty of pressure, and the quarterback struggled to get rid of the football on time and accurately.
The Jets deciding to stand pat at the deadline was a sign of a front office happy with the team they have assembled. For an executive like Douglas to have previous experience with the most aggressive GM in football in Howie Roseman, it’s even more alarming that he’s become a more mild-mannered house cat than an aggressive lion in the field of NFL trades and acquisitions.
Douglas’ mindset of safe selections that don’t rock the boat of a professional organization is a sign that everyone within the halls of 1 Jets Drive is safe with their jobs. That has seeped into the coaching staff who would rather play games safe than go for wins. In turn, it’s allowed the locker room to play their safe brand of football that allows a defense to be the sole focal point of a win.
It’s not how modern teams win in the NFL today, and it’s the reason why the Jets were so heavily embarrassed against the Chargers on Monday night.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the 2023 Jets offense. While finger-pointing can go straight to the quarterback or offensive play-caller, the more honest answer goes straight to the top of the list of people who thought this iteration was even good enough to begin with.
